Hit Man is a 2023 American romantic black comedy film produced and directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Powell, based on the 2001 Texas Monthly magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth. The film stars Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, and Retta, and follows an undercover New Orleans police contractor who poses as a reliable hitman as he tries to save a woman in need.
Gary Johnson is a mild-mannered professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who also works undercover with the New Orleans Police Department to assist in undercover sting operations. When Jasper, a cop who portrays fake hitmen to solicit murder-for-hire confessions and payments from the suspects, is suspended for police brutality, Gary is unwillingly ushered into the role.
Gary quickly finds himself to be a natural in garnering solicitations, going so far as to research suspects in advance and tailor a unique hit man character for each one. He adopts a confident and charismatic persona of a man named Ron for a discontented married woman named Madison, who is trying to have her abusive husband killed. Gary quickly becomes both sympathetic and attracted to her, ultimately refusing the money and suggesting she use it to restart her life, much to the disappointment of Jasper and Gary's other coworkers, Claudette and Phil. Gary later begins a sexual relationship with Madison without revealing his true identity to her. To keep up appearances of being a hitman, Gary shows her how to use a gun, instructing her to aim for the heart.
One night after clubbing, Gary and Madison have a heated encounter with Ray, Madison's ex-husband, which ends with Gary pulling a gun to back him off. Later that night, the couple encounter Jasper, who is suspicious of them being together. A furious Ray attempts to have Madison killed, unknowingly contacting Gary. Upon recognizing Gary's as Madison's boyfriend, Ray rushes out of the sting and proclaims that he will kill her himself. Gary informs Madison and attempts to move her out of her house, but she dismisses his fears, stating that Ray wouldn't have the courage to follow through. Gary is later called into work to discuss Ray's murder, and learns he was shot in the heart with bullets belonging to a gun like Madison's. Gary confronts Madison, and she admits to the murder, prompting Gary to reveal his true identity in a panic.
After being kicked out by Madison, Gary returns to the police, who reveal their evidence on her is building after discovering Ray increased his life insurance policy before he died. Jasper, who knows of Gary and Madison's relationship and is jealous that Gary took his job, suggests Gary try to solicit a confession out of her using the Ron persona. Gary arrives at Madison's house with a wire and pretends to interrogate her while giving her acting cues typed in on his phone. Their charade convinces the police that she is innocent, but Jasper later comes to Madison's home, blackmailing her and Gary to pay him Madison's inherited money from Ray's life insurance policy lest he send them both to jail for Ray's murder. Madison drugs Jasper's drink, causing him to pass out, and Gary ties a plastic bag over his head and plans to stage his death as a suicide. The story jumps forward several years later, depicting Gary and Madison now happily married with two children.
Before the 2022 Cannes Film Market, Hit Man was announced as a new film for sale internationally. The screenplay was based on "Hit Man", a Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, and written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, who would also direct and star, respectively. Adria Arjona would also star.[5] AGC Studios reported strong sales for international distribution at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.[6] Powell was joined by Austin Amelio, Retta, and Molly Bernard in October 2022.[7][8] Filming began in New Orleans in October 2022,[8][9] and production was completed that November.[10]
Hit Man had its world premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2023.[11] It was followed afterward by its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11.[12] It also screened at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival on October 6, 2023.[13]
Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for $20 million at TIFF, making it the largest film deal of the festival and of 2023, with plans for a theatrical release as well.[14] It was released in select theaters in the United States on May 24, 2024,[15] before streaming on Netflix starting on June 7, 2024.[16]
Starring and co-written by Glen Powell, the Top Gun: Maverick star portrays Gary Johnson, a psychology professor who discovers he has a hidden talent as a fake hitman, including theatrically imitating his suspects with humorous costumes, accents, and mannerisms. He starts to assume false identities to entrap criminals for the local police, but the situation becomes tricky after he meets a prospective client named Madison (Adria Arjona).
The filmmaker had previously adapted another Hollandsworth piece for his 2011 film Bernie, but he struggled to find a central arc for the film. That changed when he met Glen Powell, and together, they began writing Hit Man, which made its debut on Netflix on June 7 after a limited theatrical release.
So, whenever the police learned through an informant that someone wanted to hire a hitman, they enlisted Johnson. The informant would introduce Johnson to the individual seeking a contract killer. Johnson, who was wired, had to get the person to explicitly state their intention to have someone murdered and then pay him for the job.
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